Latest news with #MilwaukeeJournal-Sentinel
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Yahoo
2 University Students Found Dead From Gunshot Wounds Days After Graduation
Two University of Wisconsin-Platteville students were found dead from gunshot wounds in a campus residence hall on Monday, just days after the school's commencement ceremony, university officials say. The university police department revealed Tuesday that the students were Kelsie Martin of Beloit, Wisconsin, who died from a gunshot wound after being transported to a hospital, and Hallie Helms of Baraboo, Wisconsin, who died at the scene from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, preliminary autopsies showed. Both women were 22. 'No other subjects are suspected to have been involved in the incident,' a university statement said Tuesday. 'Further investigation continues around the circumstances surrounding the death of the two individuals.' UW-Platteville Police Chief Joe Hallman said his department received a 911 call around 4 p.m. local time Monday about an incident at Wilgus Hall, a residential building on campus. Upon arrival, they determined it was an 'isolated incident' that posed no 'active, ongoing threat,' he said at a press conference. Martin was the assistant resident director at Wilgus Hall, where Helms was a resident. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported that Martin had just graduated summa cum laude with a degree in psychology, and Helms had just graduated magna cum laude with an elementary education degree. A Facebook post from the university last year praised Martin as a 'growing leader and role model for young women on campus' who owned more than 400 books. In an archived personal website uncovered by the Journal-Sentinel, Helms discussed her teaching aspirations. 'I want to be the teacher who had helped, counseled, and inspired change,' she wrote. 'I want to change students for the better.' The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say suicide is one of the leading types of gun deaths in the U.S., accounting for more than 20,000 deaths a year. There were more than 600 murder-suicides in the U.S. last year. Rapper Convicted For Shooting Megan Thee Stallion Stabbed In Prison Teen Accused Of Killing 4 In Georgia School Shooting Likely To Plead Guilty Eric Church Says Las Vegas Shooting 'Broke' Him
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Wisconsin is Cutting State Funding for Child Care. Providers are Taking a Stand.
On Monday, child care providers across the country participated in the fourth annual Day Without Child Care, closing their doors and gathering to demand a better child care system with more public dollars. In Wisconsin, some providers may remain closed for quite a while longer, according to Corrine Hendrickson, owner of a family child care program in Wisconsin, and one of the organizers of a prolonged protest — dubbed 'State Without Child Care' — which intends to push back against the state legislature's cuts to essential child care funding. While direct actions — a form of activism that uses strikes or public demonstrations — by child care providers remain relatively rare in the U.S., it may be an increasingly important arrow in the quiver when fighting for the system children, parents and providers need and deserve. At issue in Wisconsin is the fate of the state's child care stabilization fund, known as Child Care Counts. Wisconsin is one of six states that doesn't fund child care, relying instead entirely on inadequate federal funding. That temporarily changed during the pandemic, when providers began receiving regular payments through Child Care Counts that allowed them to maintain operations and kept parent fees from spiking. With these pandemic funds drying up, Gov. Tony Evers proposed $442 million over two years to continue the fund, but last week the Republican-controlled joint finance committee voted to zero out the child care money. Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter If this funding ends, there will be massive consequences for children, families and providers, which is one reason providers are engaging in such an unprecedented action. As the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported, 'A quarter of child care providers are more likely to close without further funding from Child Care Counts, and those that remain could be forced to raise their rates, according to a survey released April 10 by the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families.' This does not appear to be hyperbolic: funding reductions to Child Care Counts over the past few years have already caused providers to increase fees and to have more difficulty hiring qualified staff. Providers have seemingly had enough. Hendrickson stated in a press release that, 'While politicians negotiate over our funding and our lives, Wisconsin working families are once again left without. We've done everything we were told to do. We called. We showed up. We shared our stories. And still, lawmakers voted to cut child care from the budget. No plan. No replacement. No respect. We've had enough and we are drawing the line.' Providers across the state began protest actions in Madison on Tuesday, May 13, and according to Hendrickson, some will remain closed until the legislature guarantees they'll restore the child care funding. Single day child care protests are increasingly common. These have been seen in Australia and Ireland, and they have proven useful at garnering media attention — in fact, the 2020 Irish protest is credited with making child care a major campaign issue that year. These have also occurred regionally in the U.S.; for example, in Connecticut in 2022, providers organized a 'Morning Without Child Care,' which became a landmark event that sparked other communities to follow suit via the now national Day Without Child Care. The Wisconsin protest sets itself apart from these one-day actions though, in that the intention is sustaining activism until the state legislature meets a specific demand. Perhaps the most notable modern example of a sustained child care work stoppage comes from Germany. In 2015, German child care staff across the country went on strike for four weeks to protest their low wages, marking one of the nation's largest post-reunification labor actions and making international headlines. (The strike ended with a modest salary increase.) Similarly, in 2004, Scotland saw a strike of 5,000 child care educators that dragged on, in some localities, for more than three months. One structural element that has made direct child care actions in the U.S. less common than in other nations is the fact that there is less government involvement to begin with. Both German and Scottish child care workers are largely hired by — and have their wages set by — municipalities, and most workers belong to a labor union. In the highly privatized and fragmented American system, there is little unionization and the divisions between employers and employees can be fuzzier; in fact, in many cases it is the owners of U.S. child care programs that are protesting. However, both Connecticut and now Wisconsin have been able to tie their demands to state legislative action, with the presence or lack of state funds for child care acting as a sort of stand-in for collective bargaining. That said, the Wisconsin providers face challenges ahead. While the movement has received support from the community organizing group Community Change, the providers are not unionized. There is no standing strike fund, and for programs operating on thin margins, every day the doors are closed poses a significant loss of revenue. And of course, the participants would much rather be providing care and learning to the children in their programs. Participating in sustained closures is emotionally fraught. For early educators, it's difficult to deprive families of a vital service they rely on. For families who will feel the impact, it's expected that reactions will vary, but looking at Connecticut as an example, parents made it clear that given the choice between a temporary stoppage and permanent closure, reduced quality, or unaffordable fee hikes, they will generally stand alongside their child care providers. Child care providers in the U.S. have long advocated passionately for more support, but have rarely engaged in prolonged protests. In Wisconsin, we're about to find out whether sustained activism is a tool that can sway policymakers.
International Business Times
14-05-2025
- Politics
- International Business Times
Hannah Dugan: Wisconsin Judge Indicted for Trying to Help Illegal Immigrant 'Evade Arrest' by ICE Agents after He Was Accused of Beating Victim
A Wisconsin judge accused of helping an illegal immigrant evade immigration enforcement was indicted by a federal jury on Tuesday. Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan was arrested and put in handcuffs while still wearing her black judicial robe last month after being accused of obstructing justice and hiding Mexican national Eduardo Flores-Ruiz from federal authorities following a pre-trial hearing. The high-profile arrest sparked severe backlash from Democrats, while the Department of Justice stood by its actions against the veteran judge. According to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, the indictment was issued on Tuesday after a hearing that lasted the entire day. On Tuesday, the judge's fate was almost sealed after her indictment. Bearing the Brunt of Her Mistakes Dugan was initially charged with hiding a person to prevent his arrest and with obstructing justice. The grand jury found sufficient probable cause to allow the case to move forward. Following her arrest late last month, she was temporarily relieved of her judicial duties. After the latest development, her legal team issued a brief statement, stressing that Dugan continues to maintain her innocence and is confident she will be cleared in court. Dugan is set to enter a plea on Thursday. Prosecutors say that on April 18, Flores-Ruiz, 30, appeared before Dugan to face three misdemeanor charges related to a fight in March. During that hearing, Dugan allegedly tried to help him evade federal agents. According to the prosecution, once she learned that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were present in the courthouse searching for Flores-Ruiz, she led him and his attorney out through a jury door in the back of her courtroom. Daredevil Stunt Costs Her a Lot According to an affidavit, Dugan and another judge approached federal agents inside the courthouse at one point, engaging in what was described as a "confrontational" exchange. Dugan reportedly told the agents to take the matter up with the chief justice. After returning to her courtroom, she allegedly escorted Flores-Ruiz through a restricted exit typically used by court staff, jurors, and defendants already in custody, the documents claim. At the time, Flores-Ruiz was out on a signature bond. He was eventually caught outside the courthouse following a brief foot chase. His legal issues, which brought him before Dugan, began in mid-March when he allegedly assaulted another man by punching and choking him during an argument. He also reportedly hit a woman who tried to intervene, according to a police report. Court records indicate that Flores-Ruiz had previously been deported in 2013 and unlawfully reentered the United States. Dugan has been on the Milwaukee County Circuit Court since at least 2016 and was re-elected in 2022. Her current term will be ending in August 2028. Dugan's arrest came just a day after former Doña Ana County Magistrate Judge Joel Cano and his wife, Nancy Cano, were detained during a Thursday raid on their home in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The couple now face charges of evidence tampering after allegedly harboring an illegal immigrant, identified as suspected Venezuelan gang member Christhian Ortega-Lopez, at their home.
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Federal officials arrest a Milwaukee judge accused of obstructing an immigration arrest
Federal officials reportedly arrested a judge in Milwaukee on Friday, alleging she obstructed an immigration arrest. Few details were immediately available, but FBI director Kash Patel outlined the allegation in a tweet he has since taken down involving Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan. "The FBI arrested Judge Hannah Dugan out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin on charges of obstruction — after evidence of Judge Dugan obstructing an immigration arrest operation last week," Patel wrote. "We believe Judge Dugan intentionally misdirected federal agents away from the subject to be arrested in her courthouse, Eduardo Flores Ruiz, allowing the subject — an illegal alien — to evade arrest." The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported that several judges witnessed the arrest and that Dugan would be arraigned this morning in the federal courthouse. Dugan appeared in federal court on Friday before being released from custody, the Associated Press reported. She's scheduled to appear in court again on May 15. The arrest appears to heighten the stakes in the Trump administration's aggressive actions against judges who have challenged its immigration crackdown. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
USA Today
08-03-2025
- USA Today
Wisconsin teen claims Menendez brothers inspired him to stab mother to death
Wisconsin teen claims Menendez brothers inspired him to stab mother to death Show Caption Hide Caption Menendez brothers show renews interest in case 'Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story' premiered on Netflix, sparking new interest in one of the most high-profile murder cases in Los Angeles' history. Fox - LA A teenager accused of stabbing his mother to death in Wisconsin said his actions were inspired by the Menendez brothers, who were convicted of the 1989 murders of their parents at their Beverly Hills mansion. The 15-year-old was charged Thursday with first-degree intentional homicide by the Racine County District Attorney's Office, Wisconsin court records show. Officers, who arrived at the Caledonia home around 10:30 p.m. on Tuesday, saw the teenager drop a knife before admitting to killing his mother, according to a criminal complaint obtained by the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, part of the USA TODAY Network. Police took the teen into custody, but not before he asked the officers to kill him, the complaint says. While speaking with detectives, the teenager said he came home from school and felt depressed and an urge to murder his parents, the document continued. Before the alleged murder, the teen said he was taking his brother's anxiety medication for about a month because they made him feel high, which he enjoyed, the complaint says. He then told detectives he took nine pills on Tuesday night. The teenager is represented by an attorney in the Wisconsin State Public Defender's Office. USA TODAY contacted the state public defender's office on Friday but has not received a response. Teen watched Netflix doc on Menendez brothers before alleged murder According to the complaint, the teenager said he scoured the family's home for a hammer because he was going to kill his father once he arrived from work, but he abandoned that plan after not being able to find one large enough. So instead, he waited until after dinner when his mother was seated on the couch using her computer and he had begun watching a movie, the document says. The teen began watching a Netflix documentary about Lyle and Erik Menendez. While watching, he developed a plan to kill his parent, inspired by a 'shotgun scene,' which graphically recreates the killing of José and Mary Louise 'Kitty' Menendez, according to court records. The teen's mother, identified as SG in the complaint, went upstairs around 9:50 p.m, and when he hid his sleeping medication,. After hiding the medication, he took a steak knife and put it in his pocket before telling his mother that he could not find his medicine, the document continued. More: Woman who stabbed classmate in 2014 won't be released: See timeline of the Slender Man case Reed Gelinskey: 'She is dead from what I did' The teenager told detectives he hid a dumbbell bar in the sleeve of his sweatshirt while his mother came downstairs to help look for the pills, the complaint says. Court records indicate that when she turned her back, the teen hit her twice in the head with the dumbbell. When the teen's mother did not fall over, he said he threw her to the ground and grabbed the knife out of his pocket, the complaint reads. His mother tried to kick him off her multiple times, but he ultimately stabbed her three times in the chest and twice in the neck, the document continued. The teenager recalled his mother asking him, 'Why?' He replied, 'Pain,' according to the complaint. Following the alleged murder, the teen said he reached out to his friend using Snapchat and told her to call the police, the document says. He sat on the floor until he heard sirens, and once the sound stopped, he went outside to meet the police, the complaint reads. 'She is dead,' the teen said to officers, according to the complaint. 'She is dead from what I did.' The teenager appeared in court on Thursday and was given a $1 million bail, court records show. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 12. Menendez brothers attempting to challenge murder convictions In 2023, the Menendez brothers filed a habeas corpus petition asking the court to vacate their convictions or give them a retrial in light of new evidence. Last month, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said he did not support Lyle and Erik Menendez's latest attempt to challenge their murder convictions. Hochman's reasoning for opposing the petition was due to the new evidence not meeting the narrow and rigorous standards required to vacate the brothers' convictions or conduct a retrial. 'The question about whether or not the Menendez brothers should be free will ultimately be a court question,' Hochman said. 'Our job is to give the court the information and make the arguments.' Lyle and Erik Menendez were found guilty in 1996 of the killings of their parents and later sentenced to life imprisonment. The true-crime Netflix series 'Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story' seemingly revived the case and led to many advocating for the brothers' release from prison, including their family. 'We have also completely forgiven them. We love them so much we miss them,' Anamaria Baralt, Lyle and Erik's cousin, told USA TODAY in January. 'There is not a family holiday that there is not just a hole in our hearts and a void in our family.'
